How do you prune a schefflera (umbrella plant)?

another view

another....

last one.....

Not trying to dodge any effort, I think the course you need to take is pretty well outlined above, starting with my posts on 9/14/10. I think timing is a little off though. A fell repotting would have been better for you from mid-Jun to early Aug. Have the plants been kept outdoors? How much time do you have until night temps start regularly dipping below 50*? If you do a repot now, would you be willing to move them in and outdoors as temperatures allow until temperatures no longer allow?

It might be better to wait, if you think the plants are in no immediate jeopardy of dying, until next Jun, & then jump right on it. That would give you plenty of time to gather the ingredients to make (if you're up for it) a good soil and go about things in a leisurely yet still organized way.

You could also cut the bottom 1/3 of the roots off with a pruning saw & score the sides of the root mass with a utility knife, then return the plant to the same (or even better - a slightly larger) pot, making up for lost roots and soil with a fresh soil similar to what they're in now. This will give them what appears to be a 'boost', but what will actually be the result of you easing the limiting effect that tight roots have on growth and vitality somewhat, and allowing the plant to grow at something a little closer to its genetic potential.

We can never make plants grow at anything greater than the genetic potential with which they are programmed. All we can do is try to minimize the effects of the cultural limitations that pull the plant up short of this potential. Poor soils, poor light, poor nutritional supplementation, plus a host of other cultural influences need to be made as close to perfect as possible if we are to expect our plants to perform at anywhere near their potential.

This last wasn't necessarily aimed at you or anyone in particular. I added it simply because I had the opportunity, and because it's a good thing to understand that when we simply 'pot up', the improved growth and vitality we see soon after isn't a growth spurt. We've simply partially reduced the limiting effects of tight roots so the plant is able to temporarily grow a little closer to it's potential. Had we been diligent in properly repotting the plant on a regular basis, it would have already been growing at or near its potential (within the limits of other potentially limiting cultural factors) all along and the change in growth rate/vitality at repot time would be less apparent.

Al

Hi Al - Thanks for getting back with me so quickly. I have read the entire thread and was especially interested in the re-potting in which you cut off the bottom two thirds of the roots and things and potted in fresh soil and a larger pot. So you believe it is too late in the year to re-pot unless I want to bring the plant indoors each evening? I was hoping to have at least another month of very warm temperatures before bringing my houseplants back in the house. I may do as you suggested and let the two plants go another winter as they have been because other than the bare stalks in some places, they seem to be very happy.

You provided excellent information in the thread and when I decide to do something, I will certainly come back and print off a copy of your directions. Thank you for your time and effort that has gone in to educating the masses.

Ruby

If you think you have a month where you can leave the plant outdoors to recover, or that you can move the plant in and out as temps fluctuate above/below 55* (especially at night) then you can do it now and expect the plant to be recovered to the point where it won't be too susceptible to insect predation and disease over the winter. The bio-compounds that make up the defense mechanisms a plant uses to thwart insects and disease are by-products of the plants metabolic rate and state of vitality, so we want to avoid doing anything that significantly weakens a plant too close to fall or winter.

Also, thank you for the very kind words - they are much appreciated.

Al

Can someone answer a few questions for me? I have a 5 year old scheff "Helen" whom I miraculously managed not to kill. I never knew they could be pruned until recently when my husband and I were discussing where we were going to place her when we brought her back in for the winter, as she summers outside, and has gotten too large for her winter spot.
Her "mother" branch is about 4-5' (heavily leaned over??) from the floor and of that prob. 3' of woodsy branch with approximately 3 daughter branches (I am not home with her now). She is currently in a pot about 36" across and is very wide. I want her to be full, but tall and somewhat narrow as my winter sunlight area is not that large. So my questions are:

1. When should I prune her? If not now, how well do they travel and/or take to moving around a lot? I could take her to one of my offices, but I am hardly ever there, or can move her around inside my home, but she is SO large my husband would prolly throw a hissy and his back out.
2. Can I prune IN (to take some leaves off) vs. DOWN?
3. What is the best method to plant cuttings?
3. Can I stake the branch that’s leaning as a temp measure?

Thanks for any and all help. I have only ever kept a violet and this schefflera alive and don't want to ruin my record with Helen!

1) You can do minor pruning whenever you have a sharp pair of pruners in your hand, but any radical pruning, which the plant tolerates quite well when healthy, should only be undertaken when the plant IS healthy & is best done in the month before its most robust growth begins, which for you would be any time in June.

2) They aren't particularly sensitive to being resited, but as it is with a high % of woody houseplants plants, might shed some foliage. This is particularly true if they are mover from bright to darker, but the reciprocal can also be true. There is a limit on a leaf's ability to adapt to light. Example: Give light levels numeric values from 1-10 with 1 being very low light. A leaf that emerges under light levels of - say 6, might only be able to adapt to light levels of from 4 or 5 to 8 w/o the plant shedding them. Foliage is generally more able to adapt to increasing light levels than decreasing levels.

I think you're describing 'thinning'. You can thin, but remember that your plant is going into a period where it will lose a considerable amount of its energy reserves (winter), and that removing foliage now inhibits the plants ability to make food (less photosynthesizing surface area). Also, thinning is much more effective in summer when light is better able to penetrate into the tree's center. Thinning and tip pruning after you move the tree outdoors and it has gained energy from the improved conditions magnifies the benefits of thinning by helping the tree to back-bud much more profusely.

3) Cuttings from healthy parent material and taken using a VERY sharp and sterile tool strike faster and at a higher % than those from weak trees. Take 6" cuttings with some of last years wood. Leave 1 or 2 leaves on the cuttings. If you leave 2 leaves, cut the leaflets in half across veins before sticking in a VERY porous medium. A medium that doesn't support any perched water is best. I often use screened and rinsed perlite to root in. Avoid rooting in potting soil. You need to make sure the proximal end (bottom) of the cutting is not covered by a film of water as that can inhibit gas exchange and O2's availability to the cutting.

Alternately, you can take 2-3" inter-nodal branch cuttings (with or without leaves) and lay them on top of the surface of a fast draining potting soil and press them into the soil lightly. Think of how a log looks in the water before a log rolling contest (partially submerged) and you've 'got it'.. Split a gallon milk jug in half so the top can be reunited with the bottom. Put the cuttings on top of soil held in the bottom half & then put the top back on with the cap off. Put this in very bright light, but not direct sun. All should root if the parent material was healthy. See picture below, even though I wasn't using the bottom half in this case.

4) Yes, you can stake this plant if you wish, but if it needs staking it also needs more light or some additional dedication to pruning. I'm not saying that to be critical of you, Ferir. I'm just being the plant's advocate & looking at things from other than the grower's perspective. I understand that to a lot of beginners, pruning & what you can achieve through its practice is something of a mystery.

The biggest favor you can do yourself & the plant would be to gain an understanding of how important soil choice is to your success, the plants level of vitality, and the ease/difficulty with which achieving and maintaining that level of vitality.

Let me know if you wish to discuss anything in more detail.

Al

Al,
In regards to plant health, let me see if I have this correct: The plant shouldn't be leaning as that indicates it is either a) not getting a proper amount of light (could it get too much light if I don't rotate it enough?) or b) the foliage is too heavy and weighing it down. Are there any other options to this?

It sounds as if I should not cut her this winter even for light thinning, but can I stake her and lightly bind her up in some type of light netting (from a nursery) if that would mean I am able to place her in a stronger light source until time for heavy pruning? Or would this limit the light getting to the center too much? I have noticed leaves dropping more in the early winter and again early spring, when I move the plant inside or out, sounds like maybe my winter light source may not be as adequate as I thought.

As for the heavy pruning in June, it sounds like I need to do a mix of thinning and cutting, but I am still confused on where to cut so that I continue to get height. Somewhere above I read that cutting the "mother" branch will stunt that upward growth. Or am I putting the cart before the horse on this, as I first need to get it stand up?

I will not be offended by your advocacy of Helen, as my very first indoor greenery was a FAKE ficus which I still managed to kill (literally, leaves would fall off indiscriminately). And FYI, the kids and I named her as a joke to kind of foster feelings towards her so we wouldn't kill her by lack of care, and it took and now she IS part of our family, so no offense will be taken and any help and advice is appreciated. My goal is to creat plants off of her so that when the kids have their own place (too soon now) they can take their own plant with them that they helped start.

Thanks again!!
Fer

Ok, so now I have made it home and really looked at the branches. I didn't realize they branched out so close to the soil. Is this where I would decide which to cut and which to keep to bring it more inside the pot? Also, it could be from heaviness, but all of the largest branches are growing away from the sun but the leaves are pointing towards the sun, if this helps any.

Maybe I should have been more clear. Plants can lean toward a light source because a growth regulator that causes cellular elongation tends to concentrate on the side of the plant away from the light source, so in that respect a plant can lean toward the light. In plants that are normally upright growers but come to be unable to support their own weight, insufficient light is almost always causal. Blaming the weight of the foliage for a normally upright plant being unable to support itself is a little like blaming a tortoise's aerodynamics for its inability to overtake the hare. Low light causes long internodes due to what I just briefly described, but it also reduces the rate of cell division. This is important because reduced cell division means the plant cannot produce as many layers of cells in the cambium to thicken stems & branches. So basically, long & thin = a reduced ability for the plant to support its own weight = droopy stems & branches.

Schefflera will grow in full sun outdoors (I have all mine in full sun all summer long), so they will certainly tolerate full sun in front of a window ...... as long as you have air movement to disturb the boundary layer. This is the layer of air surrounding foliage. It's usually not the sun that damages plants in front of a window, it's the heat that arises from passive solar gain. Disrupting the boundary layer allows the heat to dissipate, but remember that air movement (a fan) is important if you put your plants in full sun indoors.

Schefflera is a very tolerant plant, genetically very vigorous, & will handle most of what you throw at it. It seems like heresy to tell you you can pretty much do what you want with this plant & worry about fixing it later, but it's pretty true. If you want to stake it or bind it up in a mesh for the sake of appearance, go ahead. What's going to be important is what you do in the summer months immediately prior to any serious work. Weak trees respond poorly to stress, while trees in good vitality pretty much take it in stride. The formula for success involves: A) Getting the tree outdoors and in full sun in early summer, as soon as night temps are reliably above 55*, or move the plant in and out as dictated by temps. B) Getting the tree repotted (a FULL repot, including bare rooting and root pruning) and into a free-draining soil. If you are serious about acquiring a skillset that allows you to grow almost any plant well, we need to talk about soil choice because it is a pivotal issue. C) learning how to water and again - adopting a soil that ALLOWS you to water correctly. In most cases, from-the-bag peat-based soils will NOT allow you to water properly without risking root rot. These soils are FAR more difficult to grow in and steal most of your margin for error in the areas of watering & fertilizing. D) Adopting a good, regular nutrient supplementation program. 3:1:2 ratio soluble fertilizers come closest (almost exactly) to supplying nutrients at the ratio in which plants use them. This is a very big plus not well understood by most hobby growers. It allows you to supply nutrients at the lowest concentration possible w/o nutrient deficiencies. This is key in helping the plant absorb water (and the nutrients dissolved in the water) and eliminates the primary cause of spoiled (ratty looking) foliage, which is a high level of solubles in the soil solution.

To review: a highly aerated soil that allows you to flush the soil of accumulating salts each time you water w/o risking root rot, coupled with a fertilizer that allows you to fertilize at low levels of fertility w/o inducing deficiencies is 90% of what it takes to easily maintain plants that remain in good health and look good.

I think you are putting the cart before the horse to some degree, and I don't want to confuse you with too much information, but about "cutting the mother branch": The growth hormone that stops the plant from getting bushy and prevents side branches from growing (auxin) is produced in the very tip of each branch (called the apical meristem). Removing that growing tip terminates extension of that branch permanently - it can never again grow longer. Additionally, if you remove that tip another growth hormone (cytokinin) 'takes over' and makes new branches grow in some of the crotches of the leaves still left on the branch, or from dormant buds above old leaf bundle scars (above attachment sites of old leaves). This simple balance between the two hormones/growth regulators is the basis for all pruning. If you understand the relationship you can reliably predict the plant's response and plan accordingly.

That's all for now. The Tigers are putting a hurting on the Rangers (so far) Go Tigers!

Al

I also have a schefflera that I believe needs pruining. It was give to me about 3 years ago and was a large full plant at that time. It has done well and is growing. The front is about 3 1/2 ft tall and still rather full. The back is around 4 1/2 ft but is very leggy with leaves mostly on the ends of the stalks. I was thinking pruning it might help it to fill our more. Is this correct thinking? If so, when can I prune it and how is the best way to prune it?

So.. Say you don't like the way the plant has grown and you want to prune it to soil level and "start over". Do you leave a couple of these old leaf scars above soil level for new growth to come from? Repeatedly cutting it very short after it grows some makes the 'cane' thicker at soil level so it will support more top growth? I have one I left for dead outside in the fall. It's been a pretty mild winter, so I think I'm going to bring it in, cut it way back, and see what happens. May be interesting. In the past I have hated these plants because I can never get them to grow right. My big one has bugs and my smaller one has leaves dropping. At least my expectations for the one already dead one are pretty much already nill. Haha.

I have an Umbrella Tree plant that I have had for almost thirty years. It too has grown very long stems with the foliage at the top. I kind of butchered it last fall when bringing it back inside after being outdoors all summer. I have many starts of the plant from dividing some of the stems in to three or four inch pieces. Not sure how they will do in the future, but has been lots of fun watching them over the past few months. It is always very thrilling to see greenery growing out of the stalks.

Anyway.....I love this plant even though it would never win any awards for beauty or health.

Ruby

EC - your thinking is correct, but you should avoid repotting and hard pruning in winter and early spring. The plant will recover much faster and back-bud much more profusely if you get the plant as healthy as possible by taking advantage of the longer days and warm temps. Many people either don't give any consideration to the plant's energy energy cycle, or think that spring is the best time to repot, when it's actually best to repot almost all houseplants in early summer. I always suggest repotting (as opposed to potting up), which includes bare-rooting and root pruning, should be done between Father's Day and the 4th of July when the plant is (should be) bursting with energy and has many days with strong light to recover before the winter slow-down.

J - When the plant is growing robustly and its energy tank topped off, you can cut it back to any point above the basal flare and it will quickly back-bud for you.

Al

I inherited an umbrella plant from my mother and not sure how old it is; but know it is over 7 years old. When she had it at her old office someone took a lot of trimmings from it and now it is not sprouting from most of its branches. There are two branches that continue to grow and they are growing up and out. My question is, is there anything that I can do to help the other branches start to grow again or to get new branches to grow? There is about 3 feet of brown trunk and the rest are all green. I have attached a picture of what it looks like.

See the 'repotting story' that starts on 9/14/10 upthread. Your plant is a prime candidate for the same type of rejuvenation, and it would certainly help you achieve your goal. Let me know if you're froggish enough to jump ;-) ..... and we'll work through it. You'd be planning toward doing the work around Father's Day, if that makes a difference.

Al

This message was edited Mar 8, 2012 3:51 PM

Alright tapla, I may have jumped the gun a bit on repotting and pruning. Now the plant seems to be wilting away! The top of the trunk is very soft to the touch.

I was unable to find the powdered minals and foilage food around town, and am unable to order them on the internet -- I am broke. I have been using my fish tank water for watering my plants... up until I repotted, my schef seemed to love the water!

Where should I go from here? Should I repot with dirt? I will try to get a picture of my plant uploaded today.

Will be interesting to get some info on this. I have been very fortunate in what has occurred with my Schefflera. At then end of the summer last year when bringing the plant inside I noticed that it was really looking scraggly. Against my better judgement I decided I couldn't look at it in its condition for a year and prune at the proper time. I chopped that baby in every direction that it could be chopped. Since that time I have at least eight or ten pots of new Umbrella Trees, most which have surprisingly enough done quite well.

The better looking ones of the bunch have been gifted to special gardening friends, and some that I am still watching to see what they will do. The majority of the mother plant is still intact and now might be the appropriate time for me to see if there is more pruning and propogating I can do.

Thanks for posting in order to remind me that this along with a dozen more of my houseplants need attention soon and some maintenance done.

Ruby

I'll watch for your picture, A. It sounds like a severe case of over-watering to me, or an overly water-retentive soil - issues that usually go hand-in-hand.

Al

That was exactly what it was. I tried to upload the pictures, but for some reason the website would not let me. I unearthed the roots, and they were literally falling apart. I immediately repotted into some regular soil, for that is what I had on-hand, and am hoping for the best. Is there anything I can do to save this plant?

For general information, the bark I used for my first repot was small cedar chips bought at Walmart, with some vermiculite and spaghnum moss thrown in as well.

Well, a well-aerated and free draining soil would be a giant first step. Soil choice is probably the most critical decision you'll make when establishing a planting. Some will say light is most important, but poor light is easy to fix by simply moving the plant - soil NOT so easy.

I really think that an understanding of water/air relationships in soils and what impacts them is critical information for anyone with an interest in container gardening. Acquiring that understanding represents the largest step forward you can make at any one time in your pursuit of proficiency at container gardening.

More here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1073399/

and here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1226030/

Al

Greetings all. I just found this site and just at the right time. From an episode of "Ask This Old House" last night, I've come to the conclusion that my 25+ year old "Shefflerazade" is suffering probably from Sooty Mold, and probably sourced from the white flies that buzz around. The hummingbirds catch a few, but not enough.

I noticed the blackening of the leave a year ago, but have thought it was freeze damage. But it didn't clear up over the summer, nor has it shed any of the affected leaves like would have expected. Schefflerazade grew way too big for the house, plus I don't have any good sunny, un-energy saving windows for her to sit in, so she's been outside for a few years and has grown great guns in response. Last summer's new growth is clean, while the cruddy black leaves remain. But she's too big even to get through the door now on the frosty nights like I used to, so she's out on the back, covered deck, up as close to the house as I can get. On the coldest nights, I set a little portable heater fan on a low warm setting to keep her from freezing. But she blackened last winter anyway. I was expecting more damage this winter, but now I think it may be the sooty mold, but I don't know. It doesn't wipe off.

I see now that I can cut the plant back ... way back if need be, and I assume every blackened leave needs to go. Do I need also to re-pot, blasting the roots clean like the bare-root example posted above? I don't want to traumatize the poor thing too much, if the bad stuff isn't affecting the roots.

Finally, what about timing? It's January here at the top of California, so we've got 2-3 more months of frost risk. What can or should I do now?

If in fact it does have sooty mold, it's probably growing on the honeydew left behind by a scale infestation. More when I'm not being pressed to get to work on time.

Al

It would be nice to see a picture of the tree as it looks now. If it's still healthy enough, the tree can be cut back hard and repotted, even though that would best be done between Memorial Day - Father's Day. I would use whether or not the plant is likely to survive where it's sited now as the determining factor. A full repot would mean a considerable root reduction and a smaller pot, which would allow you to bring the plant back indoors until temps are more favorable. The plant will be in decline whenever soil temps are below 55-60*.

Al

Hello all,

I am an absolute beginner in the world of plants. We have this plant below at work, its in a sorrow state. What would be your advice to get this plant bank on track?

Muchly appreciated.

Examine what's missing in the basic care department. The largest strides you can make are going to center around the soil, your ability to water properly, and a healthy root system ....... which brings you full circle to soil as the focal point. Once you get the soil right, fertilizing is a snap. Poor soils complicate significantly what needs to be done to keep a plant healthy. A quality soil makes it very easy to grow well. If, for example, you had a high quality soil you could water copiously and were willing to follow a few easy instructions - even without knowing WHY you're following them, you could be a better grower than 90% of hobby growers, even if they have a lot more experience than you. If you're using a poor soil, I could still help you learn how to deal with it and grow healthy plants, but it would be much more difficult and the learning curve much steeper.

Are you starting to get the idea that I place a very high value on a good soil?

Read the sticky thread at the top of this forum. Then, the information in this thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1299621/ probably represents the largest forward step a container gardener can take at any one time. It's about how water behaves in soils. If you're serious about wanting to grow well, you should make sure you have enough command of the information that you'll be able to make your soil work FOR you, instead of against you.

If you're interested in very specific advice let me know. Your plant isn't all that healthy, but it's not exactly circling the drain, either. It's a perfect candidate for a significant turn-around that will be well under way by mid-late summer, this year.

Al

First off - great forum. Secondly, I don't know if I've identified my plant correctly, but hopefully the image will confirm (or not). This plant is SO determined to grow as a giant "V" (which has actually been kind of fun, because our last name starts with the letter "V"). But it's just too big now and I want to re-pot it and prune it correctly. Is it possible to cut it so it wont' keep growing this way? I've read that you can replant the stalks and all, but I'm wondering if I should just cut it down to 12" tall and try again ... or? Both stalks are almost 4 feet tall. Any help is greatly appreciated. I realize it's been neglected, and I do have guilt over it now ... but I will redeem!

If you're still around, and you look way upthread to a post on 9/14/10, you'll see a tree that looked much like yours; and you'll be able to follow how it was turned around.

Basically, you can cut your plant back as hard as you want to, providing it's reasonably healthy. Timing of the chop is a consideration, though; and I'm afraid 9/23 would have been too late to do such serious work on your tree. You can shorten it a little now, but try to plan on doing the serious root work and hard pruning between next Father's Day and the 4th of July.

Al

So I just inherited this plant from my grannie who moved into a nursing home. She told me it needs to be cut down because it's gotten all scraggly.... I will whole heartedly admit that I can kill even a fake plant lol. So my question is, I'm unsure of how far down to cut it. I'm afraid that if I follow her advice(which is to about 6") that I'll kill it because that part of the stem is brown not green....Please help, this plant is almost 25y/o and it'll just kill me if I kill it..... I'm including a picture!! Thanks.... The broken off dead stalk was like that when I got it.

The bottom line is when it comes to sustaining scheffs in pots it's about propagating the upper leafy portion after so many years and not hacking down to that done-for stem. With your admitted predisposition to planticide I'd suggest looking at some online scheff propagation techniques. And, by the way, you're a real sweetheart for your grannie love. I also have plants sustained as memories to those I've loved.

Last year a plant began growing in the yard of our new house. I identified it as a schefflera and in the past year it has grown 4' (stalk is 3' tall and upper leaves are 4' high)! Which is AWESOME! We'd love to have another shade tree in the yard.

The plant is a single stalk, no branches, and about 1-2" wide at the ground.

In the spring, my husband removed the bottom 1-2' of branches (on a whim) and it seemed to love that. We'd like to continue encouraging it to grow into a huge shady tree (assuming it's not a dwarf variety) but would like to do it the right way. Do we continue to remove lower branches? New leaf growth is coming up from the top center of the stalk.

Any tips are appreciated! (Los Angeles, CA)

Assuming this is not near a structure, driveway or septic you can continue to encourage top growth but be forwarned; mature trees can be problematic in that, along with rapid growth, they produce expanding multiple trunks and invasive root systems. The area under larger trees dies off from leaf litter and debris. I used to call a tree service every couple of years to manage a big one and a seedling that sprouted in a brick planter seriously damaged the brick within a few years.

Thank you MaypopLaurel.

It is near a brick fence, so I'll look at other locations for it to thrive.

So just to confirm: continue removing lower branches as it gets larger, to encourage tall, tree-like growth?

THANKS!

Yes. Going back to the top of this thread you will see very precise advice from Al (tapla). It's the fourth post down. His suggestions, including how to prevent side budding/branching by rubbing out growth nodes, are spot on.